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Tuesday, 4 July 2017

The mammoth reflooring project of The EG Malherbe Library
which reached completion on 27th of March 2017 …literally left us floored!

For the 29 odd years that this
library has been in existence, users have enjoyed the luxury of cosy carpeted
floors.In the latter months of 2015 it
was decided that the flooring would be replaced with cork. I am keen to see
whether this piece will elicit some conversation as to the reasons behind the
selection of this floor covering as well as its appropriateness and durability
for library spaces.

I have reservations about the
following issues:

the appropriateness and suitability and
longevity of the flooring

the skill level of the awarded contractor

the level of workmanship and the quality of
completed job

Below is merely an anecdotal
account of my borderline nightmarish experience on the 3rd floor.

One may wonder ‘why the woes’.It was simply because, the ‘wows’ were
short-lived no sooner had the project begun.

So let’s uncork this series of
fortunate or unfortunate events for some…

The project which commenced on 26th March 2016
was scheduled for completion in 6 months…upon reflection that was wishful
thinking of a very aspirant service provider, who was replaced before the
project had been completed!

Much to the dismay of staff and
users alike the project laboured on until finality a year later on the 29th
of March 2017.In addition there were
the student protests, non-functioning lifts and a shortage of material (cork)
which further hampered/delayed the project

Needless to say, it was indeed a colossal
task, which most certainly warranted the judgement of contractors who
understood precisely what this extensive project implied for the library services,
collections and operations.Sadly, this
was not the case.

Each floor had to be cordoned off. This meant restricted
access to the study space and collections by students and staff.

Staff offices had to be re-located until each
floor was completed

All furniture, shelving and computers had to be
moved.

The carpets had to be removed which was not a
pleasant task at all, as this meant the resurrection of 30 years of dust in a
sealed building.

Thereafter the embedded carpet glue had to be
scraped off the concrete

Boxes of the treated cork were then installed
with not the friendliest of smelling glues.

Several coats of varnish were then applied to
the cork which sustained a very short-lived splendour.Unfortunately, when real traffic trampled on
these floors, the lustre soon dissipated.

As per the proposal…

We were assured that no books were to be moved
off the shelves.Instead, hydraulic
jacks were going to elevate the shelves so that the cork could be installed
causing minimum disruption to the collections.Alas, this was not the case resulting in all shelves and books being in
an utter disarray.

We were also assured that all collections would
be covered with heavy duty plastic, protecting the collection from the dreadfully
injurious dust.Regrettably, this again
was not the case which resulted in further cleaning efforts for library staff.

A glaring omission was the lack of ‘project
management’ and simple attention to detail which would have made some
difference… but then who are we mere mortals to note that!

In the month of September 2016,
when the proposed date of completion had come and gone, several disgruntled
users began voicing their dissatisfaction which in turn prompted a random survey
of 120 users which revealed the following:

The respondents were made up as follows:

o13% Postgraduates

o82% Undergraduates

o5% Staff

25% (predominantly undergraduates) of the
respondents welcomed the new look and commented on its modern look and hygiene.

62% felt that the money spent could have been
put to better use to upgrade more necessary facilities.

87% responded that their study and access to
information was disrupted during the project

There were concerns about the durability of the
flooring.

There were concerns about the slippery nature of
the flooring.

Clearly an assessment of pros and cons should have been
undertaken before embarking on this project.